Chevrolet G20 Starcraft Conversion Van, 1994
Discussion
These are a proper guilty pleasure of mine,probably stems from doing a USA road trip all the way up the east coast from Florida to Maine back in the day with my redneck American relatives. 8 of us in a brown G20 day van. Ace!
I would love one here for going to mountain bike events just to be different,you can't move at them for VW transporters on 22's.
I would love one here for going to mountain bike events just to be different,you can't move at them for VW transporters on 22's.
Time for an update. Not to long after my last post I needed to move furniture to my other house. There are 6 bolts holding the bed/sofa down. 23 years of crap and rust on the bolts made it a very long job. It is a 2 person job. When the bed goes back in I will replace the bolts. It is heavy as are the captains chairs.
The van was having difficulty starting. It would turn but not fire up.
It was late at night, I was driving my wife's car and she was in the van. I stopped at a gas station to fill up the car. My wife turned off the van, when it came to turning it back on, it would turn and not start.
Eventually the battery died from repetitive cranking.
I normally keep jump cables in the trunk of my wife's car. Well I forget them at the house. I picked up a set from Walmart and charged up the van for 20 minutes, it still would not start. I believe it was an electrical issue caused by the original aftermarket 90s alarm system. I started messing around with some of the wires and it automatically locked the van and triggered the alarm, for which the owner had lost the key fob.
Luckily I had opened the rear door to get my tools out. So after climbing a sea of furniture I got to the front door and unlocked the van.
Eventually I got the van the start. I drove it to my other house and once running it was fine.
So the plan was to do all the basic maintenance on the van after work. The problem is that it's really cold and dark, which is the reason for the lack of photos here.
Firstly I removed the alarm system from the van. The schematics were included with the papers for the van so I just traced the wires, found the shock sensor, control unit and relay. Cut out the splices and rejoined the wires and heat shrinked.
I then began on removing the dog house. What should have been a simple task is a hassle due to the extra conversion parts. So there are 2 layer of wood and plastics. The switches for the electric mirrors and interior limo lighting are easy to damage if you pull on the wood too much.
So I replaced the air filter, coolant temp sensor, pcv valve, pcv valve pipe. Then came the spark plugs, well the passenger side rear spark plug sheered off. The whole hexagon part. There is no room to use a drill and an easy out due to the floor. I tried using wd40, pb blaster, freeze out, nothing worked. I tried vice grips with a crescent wrench (adjustable spanner). Still did not move.
It's too dark and cold to remove the head myself so I called a garage to get a quote. $1250. No way in hell was I paying half the value of the van to remove the head to have the spark plug removed.
I ended buying an Irwin bolt extractor kit from Lowes for $20. Combined with a breaker bar I removed the spark plug in 30 seconds. I then replaced the spark plugs, spark plug leads, rotor arm, dizzy cap.
When I tried to remove the broken spark plug, in order to get access I had to remove the exhaust manifold. Well there were no gaskets, so I added some.
Plus where the manifold meets the clamp/flange, I had sheered off one of the studs. I had to remove it completely and drill out the broken bolt. I replaced all the studs and manifold bolts.
Once everything was back together it still would not fire up. Eventually I got it running, drove it to autozone to get an output shaft seal as that was leaking tranny fluid. All of a sudden there is a clicking sound that frequency changed as rpm's increased, figured out the exhaust manifold has a leak.
So then the van would not start at autozone. I turned the key 7 times to see if priming the fuel pump would work. Well it did. I started driving it home, then it cuts out totally, power steering turns off, and coasted to a stop at a Mcdonalds.
Then it fired up. Got home. It had to be fuel related. I had a fuel filter, replaced it, still did not effect anything. Then its either the fuel pump relay or the fuel pump. I picked up a new relay, swapped it out and now it runs no problem.
Next I dropped the driveshaft to get to the output shaft seal. Removed the 4 bolts on the drive shaft, pulled out the yoke. The drive shaft is a beast, surprisingly it is aluminum and was light.
I had to get a special tool to pull out the seal. The seal kit comes with a bushing that goes in the transmission tailhouse. Well there was no way I could pull it out. It was too risky gouging the output shaft. I then unplugged the transmission harness, removed 4 bolts, the housing came off.
I took it to a friend with a 75 ton press to remove the old seal and refit the new seal. The drive shaft is now back in.
What I have learned is, from the factory these manifolds never came with gaskets, hence the clicking sound. I managed to undo the manifold bolts, and slid the gaskets out. My next step is to install the manifolds.
The van was having difficulty starting. It would turn but not fire up.
It was late at night, I was driving my wife's car and she was in the van. I stopped at a gas station to fill up the car. My wife turned off the van, when it came to turning it back on, it would turn and not start.
Eventually the battery died from repetitive cranking.
I normally keep jump cables in the trunk of my wife's car. Well I forget them at the house. I picked up a set from Walmart and charged up the van for 20 minutes, it still would not start. I believe it was an electrical issue caused by the original aftermarket 90s alarm system. I started messing around with some of the wires and it automatically locked the van and triggered the alarm, for which the owner had lost the key fob.
Luckily I had opened the rear door to get my tools out. So after climbing a sea of furniture I got to the front door and unlocked the van.
Eventually I got the van the start. I drove it to my other house and once running it was fine.
So the plan was to do all the basic maintenance on the van after work. The problem is that it's really cold and dark, which is the reason for the lack of photos here.
Firstly I removed the alarm system from the van. The schematics were included with the papers for the van so I just traced the wires, found the shock sensor, control unit and relay. Cut out the splices and rejoined the wires and heat shrinked.
I then began on removing the dog house. What should have been a simple task is a hassle due to the extra conversion parts. So there are 2 layer of wood and plastics. The switches for the electric mirrors and interior limo lighting are easy to damage if you pull on the wood too much.
So I replaced the air filter, coolant temp sensor, pcv valve, pcv valve pipe. Then came the spark plugs, well the passenger side rear spark plug sheered off. The whole hexagon part. There is no room to use a drill and an easy out due to the floor. I tried using wd40, pb blaster, freeze out, nothing worked. I tried vice grips with a crescent wrench (adjustable spanner). Still did not move.
It's too dark and cold to remove the head myself so I called a garage to get a quote. $1250. No way in hell was I paying half the value of the van to remove the head to have the spark plug removed.
I ended buying an Irwin bolt extractor kit from Lowes for $20. Combined with a breaker bar I removed the spark plug in 30 seconds. I then replaced the spark plugs, spark plug leads, rotor arm, dizzy cap.
When I tried to remove the broken spark plug, in order to get access I had to remove the exhaust manifold. Well there were no gaskets, so I added some.
Plus where the manifold meets the clamp/flange, I had sheered off one of the studs. I had to remove it completely and drill out the broken bolt. I replaced all the studs and manifold bolts.
Once everything was back together it still would not fire up. Eventually I got it running, drove it to autozone to get an output shaft seal as that was leaking tranny fluid. All of a sudden there is a clicking sound that frequency changed as rpm's increased, figured out the exhaust manifold has a leak.
So then the van would not start at autozone. I turned the key 7 times to see if priming the fuel pump would work. Well it did. I started driving it home, then it cuts out totally, power steering turns off, and coasted to a stop at a Mcdonalds.
Then it fired up. Got home. It had to be fuel related. I had a fuel filter, replaced it, still did not effect anything. Then its either the fuel pump relay or the fuel pump. I picked up a new relay, swapped it out and now it runs no problem.
Next I dropped the driveshaft to get to the output shaft seal. Removed the 4 bolts on the drive shaft, pulled out the yoke. The drive shaft is a beast, surprisingly it is aluminum and was light.
I had to get a special tool to pull out the seal. The seal kit comes with a bushing that goes in the transmission tailhouse. Well there was no way I could pull it out. It was too risky gouging the output shaft. I then unplugged the transmission harness, removed 4 bolts, the housing came off.
I took it to a friend with a 75 ton press to remove the old seal and refit the new seal. The drive shaft is now back in.
What I have learned is, from the factory these manifolds never came with gaskets, hence the clicking sound. I managed to undo the manifold bolts, and slid the gaskets out. My next step is to install the manifolds.
Here's a nice Vandura.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAaNXS_TzA4
I also picked up this book after recommendation:
Walden on Wheels: On The Open Road from Debt to Freedom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAaNXS_TzA4
I also picked up this book after recommendation:
Walden on Wheels: On The Open Road from Debt to Freedom
My dad had one of these in the 90's, remember sitting on his knee and "driving" it when about 10 years old. Went to many American car events and slept inside plus we went on a 3 week tour of Scandinavia camping, awesome things! Had a TV and Video player set up in the middle, up between the 2 captain's chairs in the front so people in the back could watch films
KrissKross said:
Very interesting thread.
With the costs of some of these vehicles, I could buy one and give it away for free instead of hiring an RV for a month or so!
Exactly. One of the TV rental companies, cruise America, their prices I find are expensive.With the costs of some of these vehicles, I could buy one and give it away for free instead of hiring an RV for a month or so!
If you was trying to do it on a minimum budget, conversion vans are good for stealth camping. A lot places like Walmart will let you boondock for free.
You could pick up an old class c rv for maybe 4k. Class B's generally are more expensive as they are easier to hide in plain view and park.
I got this van instead if an rv for now so I can daily drive it for bad weather, move my riding mower and stuff.
I originally though when the rear doors open they are quite restrictive, however the door straps have pins that take 2seconds to slide out. Then remove the spare wheel and the doors will open wide. I can fit my riding mower with a 42" deck inside.
I love this UK camper cabin conversion, it looks like my home.
http://dornob.com/living-in-a-van-rustic-cozy-conv...
https://rusticampers.wixsite.com/rustic-campers
I think TV's are probably cheaper in the UK, at least the diesel ones there are affordable. Anything diesel here is overpriced.
The 6.2 v8 diesel g20 and g30 vans seem to have been imported to Europe. I have not seen one here. However it's the same engine in the humvee and the blocks can crack, maybe get 23uk mpg on the motorway.
The monster 454 g30 vans get bought for their engine and the vans get scrapped which is a waste.
The nearest junkyard that had a G Van was an hour away. I spotted a Subaru XT awd turbo and it wasn't even in that bad of a condition. A C4 corvette, plenty of 80s gm cars.
I took the time to look around them, some of the 1980s interiors are really cool. The seats are like armchairs with mattress toppers sewn into them.
They had a G30 cargo van which is the one ton.
Massive 8 lug brake drums.
For heavier duty towing it is possible to fit the g30 suspension but most people have said it's too stiff for regular use.
I got a ton of trim pieces from this GMC Vandura. I may go back for the bumper seeing as it is going to be very hard to locate the Starcraft bumper/spoiler. I black plastidip my grille and light bezels as the chrome was failing. If I got factory bumper I'll do the same but get and aftermarket front spoiler with rectangle foglights.
I got these wood pieces as one of mine is missing. Sanded them down and will apply shellac.
My door cards are shot, I am going to recreate them with thicker wood and thicker material.
Someone went through the effort of removing the dash, it gave me a chance to study how the HVAC system is routed.
This van had a heavy duty trailer hitch that I wouldn't mind, however part of it is resting on the bar.
Rear ac unit, I took the vent as at some point I will install a secondary battery.
Another 350.
Glory days.
This van also had a CB neatly installed in the overhead area in the front seating area. Forgot to take a pic.
Here's a Dodge Ram Van
I also picked up some blinds but I'll probably sell them as my van has them, one of them needs to be repaired. I left the curtains on these but took the rails. My wife with sew thicker curtains in the correct tan color.
I took the time to look around them, some of the 1980s interiors are really cool. The seats are like armchairs with mattress toppers sewn into them.
They had a G30 cargo van which is the one ton.
Massive 8 lug brake drums.
For heavier duty towing it is possible to fit the g30 suspension but most people have said it's too stiff for regular use.
I got a ton of trim pieces from this GMC Vandura. I may go back for the bumper seeing as it is going to be very hard to locate the Starcraft bumper/spoiler. I black plastidip my grille and light bezels as the chrome was failing. If I got factory bumper I'll do the same but get and aftermarket front spoiler with rectangle foglights.
I got these wood pieces as one of mine is missing. Sanded them down and will apply shellac.
My door cards are shot, I am going to recreate them with thicker wood and thicker material.
Someone went through the effort of removing the dash, it gave me a chance to study how the HVAC system is routed.
This van had a heavy duty trailer hitch that I wouldn't mind, however part of it is resting on the bar.
Rear ac unit, I took the vent as at some point I will install a secondary battery.
Another 350.
Glory days.
This van also had a CB neatly installed in the overhead area in the front seating area. Forgot to take a pic.
Here's a Dodge Ram Van
I also picked up some blinds but I'll probably sell them as my van has them, one of them needs to be repaired. I left the curtains on these but took the rails. My wife with sew thicker curtains in the correct tan color.
Shakermaker said:
I'm guessing you hid that Gospel Choir cassette in your back pocket 
Yes, I especially like the "Jesus will fix it" track. The van is still in the drive and I'm still waiting for him to install the manifolds back on. I've been waiting a while.Saw this nice g20 at Walmart
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